Conveyer loader



Feb. 2 1943. R. Q. ARMINGTON 2,309,623

CONVEYER LOADER Filed Nov. 6, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.- 3

INVENTOR RAYMOND Q. ARMINGTON ATTORNEYS Patented eh. 2, 1943 a arCONVEYER LOADER Application November 6, 1940, Serial No. 364,481 2Claims. (or. 37 -108) This invention relates to improvements in conveyerloaders of the type adapted to scrape or excavate earth material fromborrow pits or the like to convey the same to a vehicle alongside theequipment where the excavated material is loaded and carried away to aremote point.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide apparatuswhich will make a cut of such cross sectional dimensions that a largevolume of earth is excavated per lineal foot of travel of the apparatus,together with means for handling this large volume of excavated materialin an expeditious manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a scraper adaptedto dig up large quantitles of material per lineal foot of travel,utilizing the forward motion, of the digging vehicle to transfer theloose. material three or four feet up a moldboard onto a conveyeradapted to transfer the material laterally beyond the frame of thevehicle itself where the excavated material may be transferred to a dumpvehicle or the like to be carried away.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveyer loaderof the type above described with wheel means so arranged that theapparatus may be moved backward and forward in a borrow pit so as tosave time generally consumed in turning similar apparatus around.

Other objects of the present invention include the arrangement of ascraper blade adapted to load large quantities of material and at thesame time resting flat upon the ground so that it is suitable for acertain amount of grading operation, the provision of a scraper bladewhich cuts a path wide enough for the wheels of the scraping vehicle tofollow, special improved arrangements for supporting the scraper blade,for supporting and moving the conveyer andmoldboard, and remote controlmeans for the entire device so as to reduce the cost of operatorattention to a minimum.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the accompanying drawings and description and the essentialfeatures thereof will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a top plan view of apparatus embodying thepresent invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same; Fig. 3is an end elevational view of the machine of Figs. 1 and 2; while Figs.4 and 5 are fragmental sectional views taken along similarly numberedlines of Fig. 2.

Elevating graders of the prior art have been designed to excavate suchsmall amounts of material per lineal foot of travel as to require aconsiderable length of vehicle travel in order to load the dump wagonsor otherequipment used to haul the excavated material. This has had twodisadvantages, namely, either the borrow pit had to be of exceptionallength or the excavating eqiupment had to be turned around at frequentintervals. In either case much time was lost because large borrow pitsin many cases were not available. Also, these elevating graders requireda separate operator, it was impossible to back them up because they hada dolly at the front end of the excavating vehicle and in general thistype of equipment has been limited in its application because of theinability to handle the large quantities of material which are necessaryin many operations. The present invention overcomes many of the abovenamed difficulties as will presently appear.

In the embodiment here disclosed a frame It! is provided comprising twoparallel side frame members Isa, a transverse front member lllb and atransverse rear member lilo. Preferably all of these members are hollowor box beams, one manner of forming which as best seen in Fig. 3 is theassembling of two channels in ,fiange to flange relationship asindicated on the side beams Ida. A drawbar l i extends forwardly fromthe central portion of the cross beam lb and is there provided withmeans for connecting the trailer conveyer loader to a suitable tractionvehicle such as the crawler tractor diagrammatically indicated at l2,Fig. 2. The sole support for the frame It) other than the drawbar isprovided by wheel means located on a transverse axis preferably slightlyto the rear of the center of the vehicle. As here shown, brackets l3connected with the side frames Ilia. support an axle M on which aremounted sets of double wheels l5 near either side of the frame. Withthis construction it is possible to move the excavating vehicle backwardin a borrow pit after the manner of a cart so as to save time requiredfor turning around or in cases where such a maneuver would beimpossible, as for instance in a very small borrow pit. Obviously, theinternal combustion engine 3'1, later described, to a very substantialdegree conunterbalances the weight of the conveyer 24 and other partsresting on the frame it in front of the axle M. It is this feature whichleads to easy maneuverability of the trailer vehicle back and forth inthe manner of a cart behind the tractor l2.

A scraper blade i6 is supported on the frame for vertical movement sothat the blade may porting the blade from the vehicle so that it mayenter the ground to a depth for instance of as much as eighteen incheson a total width of approximately nine and one-half feet. To this end Ihave provided a backing for the blade of a hollow beam l'l triangular insection as best seen in Fig. 2 and this beam in turn is rigidly attachedto two push beams l8 which are connected at each end of the bladeconstruction 16, I1 and extend upwardly and rearwardly to the rear endof the frame Where they are pivotally connected. To provide thisconnection vertical beams (9 are rigidly connected at the rear cornersof the frame I!) and at their upper ends these beams are braced by thediagonal braces which extend forwardly and downwardly to the points 2|where they are connected rigidly to the side frame members lfla, as forinstance by welding. The push beams 18 are pivotally mounted at 22adjacent the junction point of the beams I9 and 20. Preferably a bumper23 is provided at the rear of the vehicle so that a second vehicle maybe used to push the excavating apparatus when the going is tough.Obviously the pull transmitted at the drawbar H or a push on the bumper23 will be transmitted by the beams i9 and 2D to the push beams 18 andthus directly to the scraper blade without putting a strain on any otherparts of the vehicle.

Conveyer means is provided for moving the excavated material to a pointlaterally outside of the frame II]. In the form here shown thiscomprises a single straight run conveyer 24 having side frame members 25which are rigidly mounted on the push beams 18 and in turn rotatablysupport a head pulley 26 and a tail pulley 21. An endless belt 28 passesaround the pulleys and the usual belt take-up means is provided asindicated at 29. Means for mounting the conveyer side frame members 25on the push beams 18 comprise hollow beams 38 and 3| at the tail *end ofthe conveyer welded to the push beam 13 and to the conveyer side framemembers. Above the right-hand push beam member t8 as viewed in Fig. 4,the conveyer frame members are supported by a generally triangular blockmember 32 which is shown in end view in Fig. 4 and in dotted side viewin Fig. 2. This is in the nature of a filler block which is necessary toprovide at its upper surface a substantially horizontal support for theside frame members 35 of the conveyer while the lower inclined surfaceof the block rests on the sloping push beam l8. Thus as the scraperblade I6 is moved in a vertical direction about the pivot 22 to vary thedigging action of the blade, the conveyer moves with it and to this endit is advisable to have the pivot 22 as far back as possible so as tolimit the movement of the conveyer as the digging position of the bladeis altered. It will be noted in Figs. 1 and 2 that the push beams 18slope upwardly sufficient to clear the wheels l5 because the push beamsare directly connected to the ends of the scraper blade and this bladeis Wider than the tread of the wheels [5.

A moldboard 33 is provided for transferring the excavated material fromthe blade IE to the conveyer belt 23. This moldboard as best seen inFigs. 1, 2 and 5 comprises a triangular plate 33a having its longer sidethe full width of the blade l5 and having its apex 34 adjacent the tailpulley of the conveyer. Other sloping triangular-shape sheets 33b and330 guide the material from the sides toward the apex 34 so that theloose material converges as it rises on the plate 33a and is thus pushedonto the conveyer belt 28 at or near the converging point. It will benoted that the tail pulley 21 is at approximately the height of the sideframe members lBa or in the neighborhood of three or four feet above theground. This provides more favorable operating conditions for theconveyer and sufficient power is provided in propelling the vehicleforward to cause the excavated material to travel several feet up themoldboard and to discharge this material onto the conveyer. Suitableskirt boards 35 are provided to hold the material on the conveyer belt.As indicated in dot-dash lines at 36 in Fig. 3, a vehicle is providedunder the head pulley of the conveyer to receive the excavated materialand to carry it away. For this purpose the head pulley 28 will beapproximately nine or ten feet above the ground.

The drive means provided for the conveyer comprises an internalcombustion engine 3'! suitably mounted at the central rear portion ofthe frame and driving through a clutch connection 38 and a gearreduction and bevel gear drive indicated at 39. This drives a shaft 40extending longitudinally of the conveyer and having a drive connectionwith the head pulley 26. The shaft 48 is provided with a suitable slipconnection 40a permitting longitudinal extension and contraction of thedrive shaft 40 to compensate for slight movements of the conveyerrelative to the point 39.

Power means is provided for raising and lowering the scraper blade [6which of course carries with it the push beams (8, the moldboard and theconveyer. To this end a pair of cranks H are pivotally mounted onbrackets 42, one at each side of the frame near the front. Each crank atits rear end is connected by a link 43 with a vertical side plate 44leading down to the blade IS. The cranks H are connected by a torquetube or bar 45 extending across the front of the machine. At its centerthis bar is provided with an arm 46 to which is connected hydraulic jack4'1, the other end of which is pivotally mounted on the front end of thedrawbar H. Suitable pressure fluid means (not shown) is provided foroperating the hydraulic jack which moves the two cranks 41 in unison toraise and lower the scraping blade and connected mechanism. The links 43are preferably made adjustable so that the cutting blade l5 may be truedup with the frame It.

Preferably the control means for operating the clutch in the housing 38and the control means for the hydraulic jack 4'! are placed within reachof the operator of the traction vehicle I2 so that my improved trailerexcavating apparatus does not require a separate operator.

What I claim is:

1. Earth moving apparatus comprising a frame, wheel means supportingsaid frame, a scraper blade mounted on said frame and adapted toexcavate ground beneath it, said blade being at least as wide as thetread of; said wheel means, conveyer means on said frame fortransferring excavated material from a receiving point spaced abovetheground to a discharging point laterally outside said frame, saidconveyer means having a tail pulley located approximately at the heightof said frame above the ground, and a moldboard constructed and arrangedti}? receive excavated material from the entire lenith of said blade andto transfer said material to 'said conveyer means at saidreceivingpoint.

RAYMOND a}. ARMINGTON.

